The late eminent economist A.M. Khusro was a Professor at the Institute of Economic Growth right from its inception, and his association with the IEG continued till the end. As a token of gratitude, the members of the IEG family decided to pay an affectionate tribute to the departed colleague and teacher by bringing out a volume containing research papers pertaining to several themes that were cherished and valued by him.

All the contributors to this volume have been members of IEG’s faculty/alumnus and have made important contributions in the respective field during their affiliation to the IEG. The themes covered in this volume include topics on which Prof. Khusro had worked and also emerging research areas where he wished to see the involvement of IEG’s faculty. The themes included in this volume cover both — established as well as new areas of research, and are presented together in six sections :      • Agriculture, Land Reforms and Anti-Poverty Programmes
      • Environment
      • Globalisation, Liberalisation and Trade
      • Macro Models and Growth,
      • Population
      • Secularism and Religion

The volume begins with Agriculture, Land Reforms and Anti-Poverty Programmes as Prof. Khusro began his career at IEG, investigating these problems. He retained his interest in these areas, in particular, on issues relating to poverty. The next theme on Environment is closely related to the broad theme, Agriculture and Poverty. The papers included under this relate to newly emerging interdisciplinary research focusing on ecology, economics and environment, gender and community forestry, and the cleaning of our rivers. Environment is one of the two themes in which Prof. Khusro wanted the IEG to expand its research activities. The other theme is Globalisation, Liberalisation and Trade. The papers included in this section deal with the impact of liberalisation and the World Trade Organisation regime on the quantity and quality of foreign direct investments, exports, productivity, and growth of firms.

The next three themes viz. Macro Models and Growth, Population and Secularism and Religion are areas where IEG has a tradition of undertaking several important research studies with distinction since its very inception. However, over the years the focus on these themes has changed and papers included in this volume reflect that change. Studies on secularism and religion were always close to Prof. Khusro’s heart.

We hope, the essays in this volume would stimulate interest in research and will prove useful not only to policymakers and researchers but also to students interested in these varied themes.